CHILDREN at Woodland last week bade farewell to a man who saved their school from closure more than three decades ago.
Ex-Woodland Parish Council chairman Cliff Harding and his wife Barbara, who are moving to west Yorkshire to be closer to their children, have been a pivotal part of the community for many years.
His dedication to the village not only saw him fight for the primary school when it was threatened with closure in the late 1980s, but he also campaigned against plans for an open cast coal mine near the village and the creation of a wind farm nearby.
He served as vice chairman of the school governors for several years.
The school paid tribute to his efforts during an assembly last week, where he was given a card and photograph in gratitude.
Headteacher Clare Carr said: “Cliff’s association with our school goes back decades. Just recently, when he was moving, he brought lots of documents and information that were all to do with a big campaign that he was running in the 1980s to keep this school open.
“If it wasn’t for Cliff this school wouldn’t be here in the village today.”
Members of Woodland Parish Council also attended the assembly and presented Mr Harding with a print of one of his favourite Norman Cornish paintings.
Of the campaign to keep the school open, Cllr Harding said: “No one expected [success] at the time. There was a lot of behind-the-scenes work to keep this place going. I am pleased that we did, so we could have the wonderful, excellent school as it is today, at the heart of the village.”
His own children, Helen and Stewart, attended the school. He joined the parish council in 1991, shortly after the school was saved and along with being its chairman, he has also been its acting clerk for the past few years.
During his tenure the village playground was rebuilt twice.
Less successful was a campaign to prevent an open cast mine at the west end of the village, but the parish council did, however, get the land restored once operations ceased,
The 72-year-old said: “It was returned to the original contours and the stonewalls and hedges reinstated.”
More successful was a campaign to prevent a wind farm being put of near the village.
Cllr Harding said: “I am pleased that, on the important issues, we didn’t fail.”
A single sticking point for the councillor is the parish boundary – two thirds of the village lies within Woodland Parish Council area, but one third is governed by Lynesack and Softley Parish Council.
Indeed, the school he saved actually falls in the Lynesack and Softley area.
The parish council had been working to have a community review of the boundary and were preparing a petition when the covid pandemic started.
After covid, attempts to revive the review were again put on hold because of the Boundary Commission’s current re-assessment of ward boundaries.
Cllr Harding said: “A regret is that I haven’t got that in place before I leave. I am sad to be leaving the village – we will certainly miss the village, the school and all the kids.”
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
